Breath of fresh air on county board

I am writing to give hope to voters in Naperville and Aurora in DuPage County Board District 5.

In the midst of this particularly disheartening election season, there is one honest, sincere, caring young man, one intelligent, seasoned and knowledgeable candidate who deserves your vote: Tony Michelassi.

I have known Tony throughout his tenure on the county board, a position to won at age 23 as the youngest member ever. A graduate of Waubonsie Valley High School with every possible academic honor, Tony went on the College of DuPage for a degree in Political Science, working in factory and retail jobs to fund his education. He developed a deep sense of the needs of average, working people in the County and when he ran, he impressed community leaders and residents alike with his knowledge and passion.

Tony has been a breath of fresh air. He has served in leadership roles, effectively building consensus regardless of party affiliation, on issues including land planning, development, the environment, and fiscal restraint. He has championed electronic recycling, reduction of green house gasses and green government practices. He is a compassionate advocate who fought to fund the county's anti-heroin initiatives including Narcan and community-school education programs, and worked to ensure state funding for the Meals on Wheels program providing meals and well-being checks to seniors. He worked with the County Coroner to get all coroners deputies trained in grief counseling in their roles as first responders.

Tony has never voted to raise taxes, has never taken a county pension and opposes the county pension plan, voted against board salary increases and donates a portion of his board salary to charity each year. And he has the best attendance record on the board.

Deborah Newman Roe

Aurora